Parish Council President's Message

President’s Message

July 2023

It took a while for the temperatures to start rising, but the Valley of the Sun made up for the spring delay, BIG time! With our record-breaking temps averaging over 110 degrees, my hope is that you are all handling the heat as well as can be expected; OR better yet – visiting a cooler destination. Either way, St. Katherine continues to progress through the summer and plans are being made for the Fall when Sunday school resumes, ministries reconnect, and we all get back to our (more) normal schedules. We’re looking forward to picking up where we left off.

Highlights from the June 12 meeting of the Parish Council include:

Father Timothy reported that he attended All Saints Camp this year along with numerous children from our parish. He thought it was a great experience and something the parish should continue to support so that more of our young parishioners can attend in the years to come.

Vange Archuleta reported that we had our annual fire inspection of the property. Numerous violations were found, including the need to apply a fire-proofing product to the stage curtains in the Community Center (CC). Other (smaller and less expensive) violations were also found in the education building, CC and the 4^th and 5^th acre buildings. Remedial improvements were performed as required, except for the 5^th acre where further use of funds to improve the structure(s) was discussed. Before additional funds are spent on improvements, it was decided to re-institute the committee that was looking into the positive and negative aspects of continued use of the 5^th acre. Parishioners with working knowledge of structures, repair and/or real estate can contact me with any ideas/suggestions or to offer the committee assistance.

Vange also wanted us all to thank the parishioner that donated (3) new toilets for the ladies’ room of the CC. It is much appreciated!!

On the maintenance side, the saga continues. A roof inspection of all structures showed that the roof over the education building is in the worst shape of all the buildings. Seeing that we now have a tenant for that building it is imperative that we move forward with those repairs. The flat roof of the CC is next in line for repairs. The flat roof on the 5^th acre needs to be replaced also (another cost to incur if we keep the 5^th acre structures functional and safe). The air conditioners on the church, CC and education building were serviced, and plumbing repairs were also completed. It was agreed that the CC would be closed for the month of July for maintenance of existing structures. As you have seen, there was no coffee hour following Liturgy in July.

Stewardship reported that the thank you letters were ready to be sent to the parish. The stewardship list would also be published in the weekly email and changes/additions would be completed as parishioners notify us of any errors. There are four planned mailers to the community re: the status of their stewardship pledge for the year. The first two will be after the financial reports are complete for the second and third quarters; another in late November/early December for end-of-year planning; and one early in 2024 that will be the final report for 2023 stewardship for your records. Please contact the church office with any questions re: stewardship.

The maintenance and security grant committees continue to:

Evaluate the maintenance needs of the parish and prioritize them based on need (and cost)
Evaluate the use of any security grant monies to which we have access
Evaluate those two needs to see how many of the maintenance issues we can also remedy with any security improvements we undertake
Encourage ideas from parishioners with working knowledge of the trades to assist in the process (even if problem-solving only)

And finally, I alluded to it earlier and have hinted in prior messages that we were working diligently to find a tenant for the education building. We have not had a tenant since 12/31/2022; and without the rent we had been receiving, the parish was able to maintain our timely payments to keep the Church financially secure!! Many thanks to the Treasurer for keeping it organized; the Parish Council for planning for the reduced income (and budgeting likewise) and to the parishioners that helped with their stewardship pledges during those months!!

I am happy to report that as of July 1, 2023, we have secured a tenant for our building! Our prayers were answered as this lease is vital to our growth as a parish. The funds received from this lease will allow us to meet our financial obligations for the near future. However, stewardship still remains the number one focus of our parish and is ultimately responsible for our ongoing operational expenses. It is vital that the monies gained from this contract do not detract from our own personal stewardship commitments.

Highlights of the lease:

It’s a five (5) year lease with Cadence Education; they are going to provide a Spanish Immersion Program for toddlers (ages 3-5 years old). It is the same company (and similar operation/curriculum) that has been operating a program at Holy Trinity Cathedral for some time. They are a respected and well-known entity in the education realm. They will be making various tenant improvements, but plan to begin classes in January (2024).

The lease includes the exclusive use of the education building for the duration of the lease; along with the gymnasium and 4^th-acre grassy area during school hours.

We are excited to have Cadence as a tenant and we look forward to having them on our campus.

Once again, many thanks to Dimitris Laloudakis and his committee for their hard work in securing a valuable tenant that is not only a good fit for the building, but a good fit for our parish. Our missions are similar, and we look forward to a successful working relationship with them.

Yours in Christ,

John Chrisagis – Parish Council President